Different Circumstances: Xenosaga I The Beginning
by Aerith The Evenstar
Summary: What if Albedo found Ayame instead of Jr. finding her  which happened in XS I The Beginning ? This is the result.
1. Chapter 1

ATE: I've had this idea for awhile of a 'What if' sort of thing. This is the idea of what if Ayame wasn't found by Jr. and Mary when they were invading the U-TIC battleship and Albedo was the one to find her instead? This is the result. Just so you know this chap has BOTH the prologue and chap 1 in the same thing. And the prologue consists of what happened in chap 1 of Xenosaga I The Beginning except there's a bit of a change to it (adding to the 'what if'). Enjoy!

Declaimer: I don't own Xenosaga. I only own my OC (that we all know by now is Ayame, if you read the original story series I wrote).

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Different Circumstances - XS I: The Beginning

Prologue

The Durandal soon arrived in the area where the Federation fleet had been before the attack of the Gnosis had happen. Jr. and Mary were both in A.G.W.S. units as they made their way to the ship.

"Man…this ship's been gutted down to the core." Jr. said surprised. "Looks like a carcass of a beached whale."

Mary then appeared on his screen. "It's not much better up here. There's no sign of life at all. Just a bunch of A.G.W.S. scrap."

"Figures…" He muttered. "It's not like diving into shark-infested waters with a big juicy steak."

Jr. and Mary flew their A.G.W.S. into the wrecked ship and landed inside.

"Bingo!" He said excitedly. "I've found the remains of a Zohar security ring! I guess this was where they were storing it. Shelley… Set the sequencing primer."

"Roger." Shelly said. "Initiating Primer Walking. Analyzing gate-in wake."

"If they're already out of range, we're outta luck. Let's hope they're still hanging around nearby."

"I can't believe you're hoping those things are still here… Aren't you scared, Little Master?" Asked Mary nervously.

"Heck, there're plenty of things in this world scarier than the Gnosis." Jr. stated. "So,

how is it? Have they already gone over to the other side?"

"Just hold your horses there, Little Master. I'm in the middle of analyzing…" Suddenly an alarm went off. "Wha?"

"What is it?" Asked Jr.

Jr. and Mary suddenly saw something appearing in the area around them.

"Emergency alert! Looks like someone got here before us!" Mary said.

"It appears we're completely surrounded."

The enemies appeared out of nowhere.

"Heh. Using short-jumps, eh? That's pretty damn clever!" He said smugly.

"Little Master, are they…"

"Yeah, no question about it. They're from U-TIC."

The enemies started firing their weapon at Jr., but he dodged them by doing a back flip.

"Mary, I'll head back after I take care of these guys! Order all the crew to return to the Durandal!" Jr. ordered.

Jr. started to smirk as he got out his weapons and attack the U-TIC soldiers in their A.G.W.S units. It took a while but he managed to defeat them all. After Jr. defeated the U-TIC soldiers the ship started to shake wildly. He assumed that if was a U-TIC battleship.

"Whoa, whoa, hold up… Trying to cover up the evidence?" He muttered.

"Little Master, you've got to hurry back! Their mother ship is coming!" Mary said.

Jr. managed to escape the wrecked ship successfully. He watched as the U-TIC battleship destroyed the ship and went back to the Durandal.

Jr. and Mary were riding up the elevator to the bridge of the Durandal.

"Welcome back, Little Master." A 100-Series said.

"What's the situation?" Jr. asked.

"It's a standard attack vessel. Unknown registration. All weapons are at Condition zebra, interlocks removed. Awaiting orders, sir."

Suddenly the Durandal got hit and started to shake.

"These guys just don't let up, do they?" Said Jr. "Activate all shields!"

"Incoming, second wave of attacks. 10 second to impact!"

"'All 100-Series, subchannel into the High Velocity Cannon system!" Shelly commanded as she got into her seat.

"Connection to High Velocity Cannon system complete. Enemy photon torpedo on the port side! Impact imminent!"

The U-TIC Battleship fired lasers at Durandal, but the shields had absorbed the lasers from the enemy ship. At least it would buy them time.

"The shield is still holding!"

"Man…all we were doing was investigating the scene. You'd think they could just leave us alone. Match course and speed!" Jr. said.

"Course and speed modified. Ready to fire!" Shelly commanded.

Jr. placed his hands on the controls and his eyes started to glow brighter as he reacted to the firing controls.

"Take this!"

The Durandal fired laser cannons at the U-TIC Battleship, destroying all but one of them that had a shield up.

"Hah, look at that, Little Master! They're already starting to flee." Mary said.

"The enemy mother ship has begun its retreat." Shelly stated.

"It'd be nice if we could just let 'em go… But we can't do that, now can we?" Asked Jr. "Shelley, give 'em a little nudge."

"And when he says a little nudge, you know what that means!"

"Set engines to ramming speed! Penetrate the port side and prepare for combat!" Shelly commanded.

The Durandal rammed the nose part into the shielded U-TIC Battleship and it penetrated through the shield and the U-TIC Battleship suffered damage.

The crew made it's way into the ship and where ready for orders.

"Our objective is the enemy mainframe. Utilize all available terminals and counter any protective measures." Mary said. "Once inside, engage all hostiles. All hands, move out."

The Durandal crew moved forward.

Mary then looked to Jr. "Well, shall we head for the bridge, Little Master? Ready?"

"All right. Let's get this over with and go home." Jr. said. The two started to move forward.

On their way to the bridge, Jr. and Mary came across a room where three U-TIC soldiers were standing guard. But the soon spotted them and charged at the two. Jr. and Mary easily took them out. The only thing that either of them saw was a capsule, but they thought nothing of it and just left. If only they knew what was inside…

Jr. and Mary made it to the bridge, and due to Jr. touching things that he wasn't supposed to, they were forced into a fight with Ambix. They soon defeated Ambix Mary sat at the computer and started to hacked into the mainframe.

"We've hacked into the enemy mainframe. Okay, so now what? Shall I copy or transmit it?" Asked Mary.

"They've already entered the manual override code… The partitions are being deleted. Hurry up and start your transmission." Shelley said.

"Roger. You just clear your head out and wait for me." Mary found a wide connector and connected it to her headset.

Jr. went over to Mary. "I tell ya, being able to interlink with your sister has gotta be real convenient." Jr. stated.

"I wouldn't say that. She has so many random thoughts."

"I can't help it! We're humans, not Realians. You can telepathically talk to the Kaiser, right, Little Master? That sounds a lot more convenient to me. You don't need this annoying contraption, either." Mary said.

"Not really… I have to constantly make sure I watch what I'm thinking, or else I start sending thoughts I don't want to send." Jr. said. "The whole thing's just as tiring as hell. It'd be easier to just write him a letter."

"Oh, I didn't know it was like that."

"Yep, that's how it is…"

Suddenly U-TIC soldiers came into the room and started to fire on them. Fortunately, Jr. and Mary didn't get hurt. Jr. took out his guns and started firing on them, killing all the U-TIC soldiers instantly. Jr. twirled his guns and put them away.

"You okay, Mary?" Jr. asked.

"Yeah, I'm all right, but… Look what you did!" Mary held up wide connector, which was cut off from the original connector.

"I'm sorry to say that all data from the enemy mainframe has been lost." Shelley said.

"Ah…oops."

"It's because of all those cheesy action flicks you keep on watching!" Mary stated.

Just then Jr. received a signal from the Durandal.

"They've launched a lifeboat. Shall we pursue?"

"Nah, no need to pursue them that far. We just need to know where they're headed. Place a trace request with the U.M.N. administration bureau." Jr. said. "Let's head back. Hurry up with the retrieval preparations onboard the Durandal. All hands, check your equipment. Don't leave any evidence behind."

Jr. left the bridge, leaving Mary alone.

"Amazing…" Mary said. "I can't believe how much his personality changes when he's holding a gun."

"A lust for conquest and absolute power, and the desire to have a really big…gun. I supposed that'd be the standard explanation." Shelly said.

"You don't hold back, do you, Shelley?"

"Although, in Little Master's case, it's probably just a complex about his height."

Mary giggled "Probably. But I think Little Master's plenty attractive just the way he is."

"True… Mary, we'll be leaving in two minutes." Shelly said. "Hurry back, okay?"

"Roger."

Shelley broke contact with Mary.

"It's a shame…" Mary said sadly. "Little Master doesn't have any choice in the matter but to stay that size…"

Mary left the U-TIC battleship, making her way back to the Durandal.

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Chapter 1

Somewhere in vast darkness of space Albedo was piloting the Simeon, accompanied by the Kirschwasser that was always with him. His destination: the remains of the U-TIC Battleship. He sighed in boredom, thinking that trying to salvage any information from a blown up ship was a complete waste of time; there wouldn't be anything left to salvage. But still, orders were orders.

"Find anything interesting, my little Kirschwasser?" He asked.

"Scanning." The Kirschwasser said. "The remains of the U-TIC Battleship are a few kilometers up ahead."

"I'm aware of that, but anything else?"

"There is an object still intact even after the vessel was blown up."

This got Albedo's attention. An object that was still intact after an explosion? Now _that _was interesting! The Simeon continued making its way to the site and just as the Kirschwasser stated a capsule floated a ways away from the wreckage of the battleship. Going over to it Albedo picked up the capsule and had the arm of the Simeon bring it up to the head in order to get a closer look at it, the words '2008 A.D.' written on it.

Sleeping peacefully inside the capsule was a girl who appeared to be 17 years old with long white blonde hair, wearing an old school uniform.

"_This girl…_" He thought.

_**Albedo wandered into a room that was mostly vacant except for the capsule in the middle of the room that he was walking towards. He saw the plate that read '2008 A.D.' on it before wiping the glass, seeing a girl…an angel of the past…sleeping peacefully inside.**_

After recalling the memory of when he first saw her 14 years ago he grinned maniacally before laughing.

"Looks like this trip wasn't a complete waste of time after all." He mused.

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"Now, Kirschwasser, do you have the sedative ready?"

The Kirschwasser turned to look at Albedo from where she sat and held up the syringe filled with the sedative.

"Yes. It is ready." She answered.

"Good. You already know the plan."

The Simeon flew inside the hanger of the new U-TIC base (AN: I don't know what to call it) since the one on Pleroma was blown up recently. Once they landed Albedo had the hand holding the capsule set it on the platform near the head of the Simeon before getting out, followed by the Kirschwasser holding the syringe in her hand. He stood near the capsule and pressed a button before hearing the hissing sound of the capsule door opening. He looked at the girl lying inside the now opened capsule and saw that she started to stir. As soon as her eyes cracked opened a bit the Kirschwasser injected the sedative into the vein in the girl's arm with great care, causing her to start falling back asleep. Albedo gathered her delicate form in his arms, climbing back inside the Simeon and placing her in the place where he sat before getting out to see the capsule already shut.

He grinned. Everything was going as planned.

Albedo heard the sound of footsteps approached and spotted Margulis and a few U-TIC soldiers following him as they made their way over to the Simeon. He chuckled quiet before making his way to the platform and using the controls to have it lower to the ground. Margulis came over and stood in front of him.

"So you're back. Did you manage to find anything of interest among the wreckage of our battleship?" Margulis asked.

"I might have, unless finding a capsule from the year 2008 A.D. means anything to you?" Albedo answered.

"A capsule?" Margulis raised an eyebrow. "It appears you managed to recover one of our valuable objects. Good work." Margulis walked over to the capsule to inspect it, only to growl in anger a few seconds later and slam his fist on it. "Where is she?" He growled, turning to look at Albedo. He went up to him and grabbed him by the collar. "Where is she, U.R.T.V.?"

"'Where is she?' Was there supposed to be someone in there? It was empty when I found it."

Margulis released his grip on Albedo's collar but the scowl remained on his face.

"Fine! But you have better be right, U.R.T.V….! But the capsule stays with us."

With that Margulis and the soldiers walked away with the capsule. Albedo laughed mentally.

"Come." Albedo said to the realian, walking onto the platform.

Albedo had to lift the girl in order to get in his seat before sitting her down on his lap, her body leaning against him as her head laid limply against his shoulder. He smiled slightly, gently stroking the side of her face with his hand. His angel…so soft and delicate…like a flower.

"Soon, mon belle iris, you'll be in a safe haven."

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ATE: That's it for the prologue and chap 1. There will be a chap 2 soon because my editoress will see to it that I finish this story. There will be a second and third story to this series that'll correspond with Xenosaga II The Middle and Xenosaga III The Final. Albedo's probably OOC in this chap, but if you've read my other Xenosaga stories so far you know the reason. Please review! :)


	2. Chapter 2

ATE: Here's chap 2 of this story. I kinda feel like I rushed through this one, but I couldn't really think of anything beyond where I've ended this. I have to say thanks to my editoress (who called herself 'feathers17' in her review) for reviewing the last chap. I hope you enjoy this post, friend, as well as everyone else reading this.

Declaimer: I don't own Xenosaga. I only own my OC Ayame.

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Chapter 2

Consciousness started to come to me as I started to slowly wake up. As I became aware I noticed that I was sitting on something warm. What was it? I managed to crack my eyes open and spotted white and a dark color in the somewhat dimly lit room I was in. that was when I noticed something stroking the left side of my face, only to have it stop when I lifted my head up a bit. That was when I spotted a white covered arm and I followed it with my gaze before having to turn my head to my right. My eyes widened when I saw the face of a man with white hair and violet eyes. He was attractive looking but something about him caused me to feel scared of him and the fact that he was a stranger didn't help.

My body started shaking in fear and I looked away from him, shutting my eyes tightly. I took a sharp intake of breath when he started stroking the left side of my face and it was strangely soothing that it caused me to calm down a bit.

"What's wrong? Why so scared?" The man asked.

I opened my eyes and forced myself to look at him. There was something familiar about him but I didn't know why?

"I…I don't know." I said. "I'm so confused. Everything's a huge blank in my mind. I can't remember anything." I hung my head and shut my eyes tightly as tears started to well up in my eyes. "I don't even remember my own name."

I tried to hold back the tears but my efforts weren't enough and I felt the tears fall from my eye. Why couldn't I remember anything? Who am I? Where am I? Who was this man? I buried my face in his shoulder as I cried. He tensed up a bit (probably in surprise) before I felt a hand on the back of my head. I didn't know how long I was crying but I eventually stopped before pulling my face away from his shoulder.

"S…sorry for doing that… I didn't mean to…"

"You have amnesia."

"What?" I looked up at him, feeling confused.

"You can't remember anything because of amnesia, memory loss." He explained.

"_Amnesia…_" I thought.

"But I don't remember who I am. What am I going to be called?"

"I call you 'mon iris', which means 'my iris' in French. Although calling you 'Iris' seems very bland to me. Ask the Kirschwassers for a name for a name with the same meaning."

"Where do I find them?" I asked.

"You won't need to look since they're already here."

I followed his gaze (I had to turn my head to my left) and spotted what appeared to be 99 identical little girls with golden colored eyes and dark skin, all wearing the same outfit consisting of long boots with white and black, a white, black, and blue colored dress, and a hat sitting in each other their heads of long white hair. I couldn't help but feel amazed at how many there were.

"Who are they?"

"The 99-Series Realians, Kirschwassers."

"Do they…each have names?"

"No. They're called the same thing."

I lowered my gaze, suddenly feeling a sense of sadness.

"That's so sad…" I said quietly.

"There's no need to feel sorrow for such trivial things. Now go with them. They'll tend to you now and get you something different to wear."

I looked at him, confused by what he meant?

"What's wrong with what I'm wearing?"

"In this day and age the outfit you're wearing would be considered ancient. They're over 4000 years old." He explained. "I'll tell you more when you come back."

I heard the sound of footsteps approaching and turned to see that one of the Kirschwassers stood in front of us. She held out her hands to me and I felt confused at first before realizing that she wanted me to place my hands in hers. I did that and she walked backwards slowly while gently pulling me along with her towards the others. She took one of her hands away as they led me out of the room and I took one last glance over my shoulder to look at the man still sitting in his chair before looking ahead.

The Kirschwassers led me down a long hallway until we came to a door while we went inside and I found myself in what seemed to be a bedroom with two doors, one on the left and right walls, and a huge bed against the wall ahead of us situated in the middle. I was led through the door to my left and realized that it was a bathroom with a huge bathtub, a shower stall, sink, and another door I assumed to have a toilet behind it.

Some of the Kirschwassers turned to water on in the bathtub, letting it run before clogging the drain to let the water fill up the tube. A few others came up to me and had me sit down as they took my shoes and socks of for me, but when they tried to unbutton my shirt I felt my face heat up as I realized what they were trying to do.

"Y-you don't need to do that." I protested. "I can do it."

They respected my wishes and allowed me to undress myself before helping me into the tub that was now filled with warm water. I blushed when a few of them scrubbed my body but I didn't do anything to stop them. When they finished they started wetting my hair before gently scrubbing something into it (which I assumed to be shampoo).

"Such long hair." I heard a childish voice say and I realized that it belonged to one of the Kirschwassers.

But because of her statement, I felt as if my hair hadn't been this long before for some reason. Was it possible that it was shorter before I lost my memories?

"You all have long hair, too." I told her.

"True, but your's has had a long time to grow. And it's beautiful."

"I was told to ask one of you about a name that meant 'iris'. Do you know any?"

"We've thought of one that we think would suit you."

Really? What is it?"

"Ayame."

"Ayame… I like it. Thank you…?"

"Kirschwasser." She told me.

"Kirs-ch-was-ser." I said, pronouncing the word slowly. "That's what all of you're called, right?"

"Yes. It's easier to call all of us that instead of calling us the 99-Series Realians."

"What are Realians?"

"Realians are, in a sense, artificial humans. Most Realians have the appearance of older humans, but the 99-Series, us, along with the 100-Series and the 100-Series prototype, are special because we're the only Realians that were created in the appearance of a child. Our creator was Joachim Mizrahi and he designed us in the image of his late daughter, Sakura Mizrahi." The Kirshwasser explained.

"So are all of you, the 100-Series and the 100-Series prototype related? Like family?"

"Yes. We're all sisters."

Water was poured over my head and on instinct I closed my eyes so I wouldn't get anything in them. Once my hair was rinsed of suds I was guided out of the tub and some of the Kirschwassers were about to dry me off with a towel but I stopped them.

"I can dry myself off." I told them kindly.

They gave me the towel and I dried myself off before getting my undergarments on. Then one of the Kirschwassers came in carrying a long white dress and what appeared to be white Mary Jane shoes which they helped me get on before getting my hair brushed. I made sure not to step on the skirt (since it was so long and I didn't want to trip on it) as I was led out of the bedroom.

I couldn't help but think of what I've learned so far. 4000 years ago, Realian, Kirschwasser, 99-Series, 100-Series, 100-Series prototype, Joachim Mizrahi, Sakura Mizrahi, and that man. All of them seemed familiar to me yet I couldn't remember. Why did it seem familiar? I wish I could remember…

The sound of a door hissing open brought me back to reality and I glanced up to see that we were back in the room where I woke up in, the man from earlier waiting in the chair he sat in. As soon as he spotted us he got up and made his way over to where we were. That was when I realized how tall he was (I assumed he was about 6'2 since he towered over me, and I only managed to come up to his shoulders) and noticed the long white cape he wore for the first time since I didn't see it earlier. At the moment his violet eyes were looking me over and I couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable.

"Do you like the dress?" He suddenly asked.

His question caught me off guard. I wasn't expecting that. I was expecting…expecting…

"_What was I expecting?_" I thought.

"Yes. It's…very nice." I answered. I really wasn't sure how to reply.

"Really?"

"Yes. Thank you."

"Good. Come with me."

He placed a hand on my back as he led me out of the room, taking me down the hallway opposite of the one I went down not so long ago. I spotted something out of the corner of my right eye and turned my head to find a long window showing a view of space. Luckily the man stopped moving forward and I had a feeling he was looking at me as I went up to the window.

"Something catch your interest?" He said.

"Yes." I could see my reflection in the glass and I couldn't help but be a little surprised. Was that what I looked like? I placed my hand lightly on the window and I could feel the slightly cold surface through my finger tips. "There's so many stars…"

"Stars aren't the only thing out in this black void we call space. There are other planets scattered throughout the universe."

"I wish I could see them…"

"You're curious. But I'm afraid your curiosity is misplaced."

"Why?"

"This universe has acquired a taint over time. Conflicts, greed, prejudice, sin. All these are but a few of the many forms it takes. This place we're inside is a sanctuary, a safe haven from the taint of this universe. And I am its guardian, a protector to keep you safe from this evil taint that would tarnish your purity and innocence."

My eyes widen in shock. Was what he said true? Was this universe really tainted? But something about what he said made sense, much to my surprise. A small part of me was telling me it was wrong, but the other part, a bigger part agreed with his views.

"_The universe…is tainted…_" I thought, slowly taking my hand away from the glass window. I looked up at the man's reflection and I could see that his gaze was on me.

"I think you're right." I found myself saying suddenly. I turned to face him. "But you still haven't told me who you are. I'd like to know the name of my protector."

His violet eyes seemed to brighten when I said this.

"Introductions, I see? I am Albedo Piazzolla."

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ATE: That's it for chap 2. I had a little difficulty describing what Realians were without looking at the database from the Xenosaga games (I did this from memory when I was writing it during school). And I feel like Albedo is a bit OOC to me, but there's a reason for this, which my editoress could explain in her next review if she feels like it (and if she does, I'll post it first thing in the next chap for all to see). So please remember to review! :)


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